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You can find out if the number is fake by checking different websites that offer phone number validation. There is no certainty that those websites are 100% reliable, but it’s a start. There are also some other obvious ways like trying to call that number back, trying to google the number, etc.
It isn’t rare that you try calling a number someone has given to you and find out that isn’t their number or that number doesn’t even exist. There are a lot of reasons someone would give out the wrong number.
Imagine this; you’re in a club having an amazing time with your friends, and someone comes over and asks for your number. You are not interested, and you want that person to go away, but they are very nice. What do you do? Of course, you give them the wrong number.
The most common cause of giving a fake phone number is when a business wants to promote their work and asks for a customer’s phone number to have it in their database.
Customers usually find those types of promotions annoying, so they give out a fake number to get them off their backs.
Some paranoid people don’t want anyone to have their phone number, and that’s perfectly fine. You are not obligated to give your number to anyone.
There is a difference between giving out a number you came up with to a stranger or anyone else and a fake number.
A fake number’s definition is that number isn’t in service. It’s not registered under any person alive. If you imagine a number a give it to someone, that number probably exists, and they are going to have an awkward encounter with the wrong person.
Also, if you’re going through some bullying through an unknown phone number, this article will help you find out who is the person behind the fake phone number. Get ready, let’s investigate!
Table of Contents
How Can You Tell If It’s a Fake Number?
As said above, people give out fake numbers all the time. Especially in the business world. People always want something for free but don’t want to get marketing calls, so they decide giving a fake number is a win-win situation.
If you’re working in sales, don’t be naïve. Calling someone from the database and getting disconnected isn’t an accident.
There is a lot of research that confirms the frequent giving of fake numbers among people. The website fakenumber.org gets over 5500+ visitors every month.
There is also an app called Burn. It makes a phone number for you to use and has over 2000 users each month. App Hushed gets over 1700 users who want to make a fake number, too. There are many people who google this option, too.
The term “fake phone number” gets googled 18,000 times over a month. But don’t be fooled. These people are not trying to find out if a phone number is fake; they try to make a fake number..
First, we need to get something clear; you can’t rely on Caller ID. Those are not a guarantee that number is real and under someone’s name. Let’s explain what is Caller ID and how it works:
Caller ID is a feature that almost every phone has. It is designed to provide the number and the name of the person calling your number.
In reality, it only gives you the number of the person that’s calling you, but over time people started to use the term Caller ID for the name, and it stuck with it. There is a different service which gives you the name of the party calling.
It’s called CNAM.
The caller determines the phone number displayed on the phone at the time of a call. On the other hand, for the landlines, the registered phone number in the database is the same as the one displayed on the caller ID.
Caller ID depends on the receiving carrier. It queries a CNAM database to get a name that is registered with that phone.
Many bad things can come with having someone call you with a fake number. Verbal abuse is one of them. Sometimes those can be just words, but they can transform into something very dangerous.
If you want to find out who’s behind the calls, use phone validators.
What Is A Phone Validator?
A phone validator is an application that checks public and property databases to find out the most accurate and updated information about a phone number and its potential owner.
It maybe sounds like a complicated process, but it works even faster than trying to call a number that’s been bothering you.
A great tip for the future and something that might prevent uncomfortable phone calls is the possibility of deleting all the fake numbers from your contacts.
First method – You can use SearchBug for that. If you’re a business, this will save you a lot of time cleaning out all the fake numbers from your database.
How do you do that? You put all the numbers in an Excel file and upload it to the SearchBug website. It has a simple interface so you won’t have any problems. It isn’t expensive. The cost for every phone number is in pennies.
There are a few free phone validators in the market, which is amazing because they are online, and you get the wanted information fast. Some of them are phonevalidator.com, TextMagic, Validito, etc.
All of their work similarly. You enter a number you want to inspect and get instant results. What’s the catch?
With these kinds of apps, you can never be certain about the given information. Sometimes the higher price really means quality. It’s hard to have the database updated at such a low cost, which is a shame, but it’s something.
The reality is that most of those apps buy a database from some website and use it as their own. That can bring a lot of problems like scams and out-of-date information.
The app Searchbug mentioned before isn’t like this because you have to pay for the info. In this case, you get your information in real-time, and you can rely on it.
If you are not sure whether to pay to find out if the number is fake or not, you should think about how much time you will spend searching for evidence and information that might not be reliable.
If you don’t want to spend many and use phone validators, there is always the obvious option that you can try. The first one is, of course, calling the number back. It’s easy, it’s efficient, and it might work. If you call the number and it says that it’s not in use, it’s a fake phone number.
If it hits voicemail, it exists. Every registered phone number has a voicemail, so that’s also a clue that you can use.
Second Method – Is searching the number on Google. If it links to a person or a company, it’s real. Maybe if you didn’t recognize the number, it’s just because it was a telemarketing number from a company trying to sell you something.
Also, check if it links to a social media account. Before, it was an option to look up a phone number on Facebook. You would type the number in the search bar, press Enter and an account would turn up.
This option is no longer available because of security issues.
If nothing works, you can even try searching up different phone books. Maybe you find the number’s owner. There are different kinds of phone books and phone number databases in general to try a lot of them.
Maybe you are traditional, but it’s so much easier nowadays because the phone books are online and you don’t have to go through their pages.
How Do You Know If a Number Is Still Active?
Have you ever dialed a phone number and got no response? Maybe you remembered an old friend with whom you didn’t talk for years and wanted to catch up. It’s been a long time, but why not give it a shot?
Then a person doesn’t answer. What to think? Did they not answer the phone intentionally, or they have a lot going on. You can’t know that because it’s been years since the last communication.
What to think? Is that phone number still active? Let’s find out!
There can be a lot of reasons the person you’re calling isn’t answering the phone. If you think they blocked your number, for whatever reason, you should call them back.
The most common sign of number-blocking is one ring when calling, and then the call goes right to the voicemail. This isn’t true for every type of phone and service provider, but it’s common.
Maybe that person isn’t in the service area at the moment. Yes, it can happen. If it rings twice and then goes to voicemail, that person is certainly out of reach.
The voicemail is great for determining if this is the case because if it goes to voicemail, the phone is definitely still active. Even if it’s not used for a long time, the voicemail can still be reached.
The other thing that can happen is that your friend ended her contract. When a contract expires, a deal with a certain service provider can be renewed, or it can be terminated.
If your friend decides they want to go to another service provider, they can transfer their number to their company. They can also get a new one, and that’s where you will have a problem.
After explaining these ways of finding out if a number is still in use, we can determine that the most important thing is voicemail. If your call goes to voicemail, the number still exists. If it doesn’t, the number no longer exists.
You most certainly can’t call their service provider and ask them about the number’s owner. That is a strict violation of privacy, and if they give it to you, they can get in a lot of trouble.
After all, there’s usually a voice at the end of the call saying that the number is no longer in use. That’s a pretty clear sign, isn’t it?
Can You Find Out Who Is Texting From an App?
It can be very scary if someone’s sending you threats and abuses you through messages. You try to find out who that might be, but no one you know has that number saved in their contacts. How will you find out who that person is? Let’s get into it!
There are apps like Textfree and TextMe which provide clients who don’t want to use their own numbers for various reasons as an alternative. Those apps give you the possibility of texting for free, whoever you like. You can make free calls, too.
This is a great option for people who want to keep their numbers private. The apps don’t ask you unnecessary questions, and the number of calls and texts is unlimited. You’re not spending a dime, and you get to keep your privacy.
The apps give you a unique number you use. Then you have to import all the contacts you want to communicate with, and you can start your anonymous conversations.
Keep in mind that this isn’t your number, and you need to notify the person you’re texting that’s you because they will get confused.
It is very easy to use; you download the app and register using your email and a new password. Then you will have to verify the account with your phone number, but you can use your Facebook account, too.
After all of that, they will provide you with a list of numbers to choose one of them as your new number. All the contacts you have imported will come up with the name you originally saved to your phone.
Free text apps and services use special kinds of digit codes for their numbers. They are called 5 digit short-common-code or CSC.
The thing is, these short digits are very expensive to get. Large companies use them, and they require a license that can be from $500 to $1500. So it isn’t likely for an individual to get them regarding the price.
You can always find the provider of a shortcode and contact them directly. That way, you can make a complaint, and they will block that user and enable them to use the app.
The only thing is that they most likely won’t be able to give you their name because it’s against their privacy policy.
If you suspect that the number is from an app, you can text the number the word STOP, and the service provider might block them and vanish them from the app. It isn’t a 100% guarantee, but it doesn’t hurt to try.
You can also call your service provider and ask them to block all the CSC numbers.
It probably won’t be possible to block just one of them, so you’ll have to do the whole thing. If this isn’t an option for you and you want to have access to some CSC number, this option is not for you..
How To Trace A Number From An App?
If the situation gets scary, you should think about finding an app that can potentially trace the number you have a problem with. When someone calls you, and the number is blocked, that can mean that it came from an app. How do you trace it then?
There are some apps you should consider using. Whoscall and Truecaller are apps used for tracing unknown phone numbers and have been effective with customers.
Both of them work similarly, however, their primary job in unmasking the fake phone numbers made from apps. When you get a phone number, it’s time to locate it, which you also do through the app.
There is also an option of finding a fake link. You send the fake number the fake link, and when they open the link, their IP address is revealed and phone model, too.
It’s not possible for VPN users. The websites using these types of links are Grabify and IP Logger.
The best thing that can help you if you’re trying to find a phone number’s owner is OSINT. Open-source identity tools are used for collecting all kinds of data by searching every corner of the Internet.
Some of them are specialized in identifying different phone numbers.
These can work magic. You put a phone number in the search, and it creates a digital profile of the person or a company behind the number.
Consider the fact that information can also be false and not fully reliable.
How to Protect Yourself From Fake Numbers?
If someone’s bothering you, talk to your local law enforcement and not try to solve it on your own.
Law enforcement agencies have more professional and reliable ways of tracking phone numbers, and there is a higher chance of finding out if the number is real or fake.
If you consider contacting telco providers for help, you may be charged a great fee for getting the information you want.
Law enforcement won’t do anything if the threat isn’t seriously dangerous. They won’t go for big telemarketing agencies just because you find the calls annoying.
The last option is getting a second phone. There’s a big chance that person won’t find your new number, and you’ll be completely safe.
Of course, this is the last resort, and you shouldn’t pick a new phone number if you haven’t tried other methods before.
Conclusion
There are many options to finding out if the phone number is fake. There are websites and obvious ways like calling the number or googling it. It would help if you considered the fact that phone validation apps aren’t 100% reliable.
